Lhota Says De Blasio’s Policies Would Hurt New Yorkers

By Esmé E. Deprez -
Oct 8, 2013

New York mayoral candidate Joseph Lhota, a Republican, used a speech before hundreds of business
leaders to portray Democratic frontrunner Bill de Blasio as a
proponent of bloated government whose “extreme” positions
won’t reduce income inequality.

At an event hosted by the Association for a Better New York
today in Manhattan, Lhota, 59, said voters have a “stark
choice” and that he’s the real fiscal conservative, a rejoinder
to de Blasio’s comment to the group last week that he was.

Lhota called for expanding charter schools, cutting taxes
and promoting high-paying jobs in industries such as technology.
That’s how government can help the poor escape the safety net
instead of remaining caught in it, Lhota said.

“My opponent’s plans are going to hurt the very people
that he wants to help,” Lhota said in his 30-minute remarks.
“So if he wants to go toe to toe with me on inequality, so if
he wants to go toe to toe with me on affordability or about
understanding how to make ends meet, I welcome it. I’ve lived it
and I’m the only candidate in this race who has the experience
to take it on.”

‘Scraping By’

Vying to lead a city where Democratic voters outnumber
Republicans 6-to-1, Lhota has highlighted his agreement with de
Blasio on abortion rights, same-sex marriage and the
liberalization of marijuana laws. His speech today, along with
three televised debates that begin next week, offer Lhota
chances to show where they differ as he tries to chip away at
his opponent’s 50 percentage-point lead in the polls.

Lhota’s first lesson in budgeting came during childhood
watching his parents “scraping by” paycheck to paycheck, he
said. That helped him when he served as budget director under
former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and taught him “respect for
those people who are trying to lift themselves up into the
middle class.”

Most recently, the candidate ran the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, which operates the region’s subways,
busses and commuter trains.

“My record is clear, my leadership is tested and my
policies are proven,” he said. “In the end, my vision is not
of a city that merely survives, but of a city that soars.”

Education Key

Lhota last addressed the civic group in June about
education. Today he revisited many of the policy proposals that
dominated that speech and called the topic “the civil-rights
issue of our generation.”

Like de Blasio, Lhota said he supports universal pre-kindergarten and continued mayoral control of the school system.
He also pledged to boost funding for teacher training and
said he backs allowing welfare recipients to count remedial
courses toward work requirements. His support for expanding the
number of charter schools and continuing the policy of closing
failing schools make him the real progressive in the race,
he said.

Lhota drew applause from the audience after mentioning his
support for the New York Yankees -- de Blasio grew up in
Massachusetts rooting for the Boston Red Sox -- and when he said
he attended school in the Bronx instead of an “elite” school
in Cambridge, as de Blasio did. Lhota failed to mention that his
Bronx school years ended in seventh grade, when his family moved
to Lindenhurst on Long Island.

The speech came less than a week after de Blasio addressed
the association and called himself a “fiscal conservative”
while pledging to use the mayoralty to fight economic
inequality. Yesterday, de Blasio revised that label, saying
“fiscally responsible progressive” was a better fit.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, 71, founder and majority owner of
Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, will finish his third term
Dec. 31 and is barred from seeking a fourth four-year term.